Quality in optical output

[titoargento]

Hello, I'm asking because I can't find much information on this topic.

I use Poweramp because it is the best application without a doubt.

I have it installed on my media player in the car that has optical output to a helix dsp.

I would like you to help me configure the output section to optimize the best sound quality.

Almost all my music is in flac format with different characteristics but always flac.

Thank you very much. I will be attentive to any response.

 

[MotleyG]

1 hour ago, titoargento said:

I would like you to help me configure the output section to optimize the best sound quality.

Almost all my music is in flac format with different characteristics but always flac.

Ideally Poweramp would output each file without any modification. This would let the DAC in your DSP do the work. But currently Poweramp doesn't support this, so you have to choose a specifically frequency.

Typically an optical device maxes out at 96kHz. So I would consider this. But if most of your FLAC files are 44.1kHz or 48kHz you could select that. Best advice it to compare in your environment and decide for yourself. 

[titoargento]

29 minutes ago, MotleyG said:

Ideally Poweramp would output each file without any modification. This would let the DAC in your DSP do the work. But currently Poweramp doesn't support this, so you have to choose a specifically frequency.

Typically an optical device maxes out at 96kHz. So I would consider this. But if most of your FLAC files are 44.1kHz or 48kHz you could select that. Best advice it to compare in your environment and decide for yourself. 

I understand you very clearly.

What could I do in the output sections of: Opensl es, audiotrack, and Aaudio?

[MotleyG]

30 minutes ago, titoargento said:

What could I do in the output sections of: Opensl es, audiotrack, and Aaudio?

You should try each one. These formats work differently on each device. Some phones do not support all. If possible I would actually select the hi-res option.

[titoargento]

4 minutes ago, MotleyG said:

You should try each one. These formats work differently on each device. Some phones do not support all. If possible I would actually select the hi-res option.

How do I assign it to the optical output? because they can all be activated and deactivated and the option of USB DAC or wired headphones etc. also appears but nowhere does it mention the optical output.

[andrewilley]

Optical may simply be driven by the device's 'Speaker' output, or you may find in falls under 'Other Output Devices'. However it's not common for Android devices to feature optical outputs at all.

To see how Android is referring to it, play some music through that output and at the same time look at PA Settings=>Audio=>Audio Info. The bottom of the audio path list will indicate where Android is saying the final output is being sent.

Andre 

[titoargento]

44 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

Optical may simply be driven by the device's 'Speaker' output, or you may find in falls under 'Other Output Devices'. However it's not common for Android devices to feature optical outputs at all.

To see how Android is referring to it, play some music through that output and at the same time look at PA Settings=>Audio=>Audio Info. The bottom of the audio path list will indicate where Android is saying the final output is being sent.

Andre 

Your explanation is very clear! Look at the screenshots, do you recommend I change something?

[andrewilley]

As far as Android is concerned, the optical port seems to be the same as a 3.5mm headset socket. So you need to adjust for the 'Wired Headset/AUX' values. By default it seems to be using 48kHz 24-bit. Whether it can go any higher depends on the hardware, but give it a try in Hi-Res or AAudio modes and see what happens. You may find you can select higher resolutions in Poweramp, but the final output to hardware (shown in Audio Info while playing) may be more restrictive.

Andre.